novelraw Chapter 87 : Chapter 87
Chapter 87 : Chapter 87
Chapter 87: The Papacy (2)
Pope Johanna.
The longest-reigning head of the Platinum Round Table Orthodoxy.
Her birth year was unclear. She herself
Based on historical facts, Johanna had reigned as Pope for about a thousand years. Skeptics did not believe this. A thousand years was an age when even an elf would grow old. They argued that the Pope was secretly being passed down, merely imitating the same being through spells to secure a political position.
Of course, it was a baseless rumor.
Johanna said, walking briskly.
The worm farm in Johanna's arms swayed.
“How many are you raising?”
Abel was following Johanna.
Black smoke adorned the corridor. It was all Johanna's breath. While Johanna in the form of a girl walked ahead of Abel, Johanna in the form of an old woman appeared from one side of the corridor.
The girl Johanna in pajamas asked, and,
the old woman Johanna in a cloak lamented.
“I am fine.”
Abel answered silently.
The two Johannas' appearances were dramatically different, but the fact that they covered their faces with robes and emitted black smoke was the same. Soon, the girl Johanna left for her worm farm, and Abel walked with the old woman Johanna. Thud, thud. The staff in Johanna's hand struck the stone floor of the corridor one after another.
Johanna said, opening the door to her office.
The Pope's office was modest.
At a glance, it looked like a country house where an old person lived.
Not only were the furnishings quaint, but there was also a living space. The kitchen and bedroom were divided into sections. Johanna, who had been patting her lower back, went to the kitchen and began to brew tea, then gestured to Abel with her chin. It meant he should leave while she had her tea. Abel bowed his head and crossed the corridor of the office.
And so, when he opened the door at the end of the office,
Johanna in the form of a young woman appeared.
She must have planned to go to the Great Hall in that body. Abel thought, scratching the back of his neck. Johanna acted through various forms, but for official business, she had always insisted on the form of a young woman.
Because in the form of a girl, she had to live the life of a girl, in the form of an old woman, the life of an old woman, and in the form of a beast, the life of a beast.
Abel's surroundings were white.
In the center of a space with nothing, a sphere that embodied the world was floating.
Lunar Eclipse Eye. A holy relic that recorded the world in real time from the perspective of the moon. Johanna was looking at it.
Abel nodded his head.
He stood facing Johanna with the Lunar Eclipse Eye between them.
It was a fact he was well aware of.
Although it was only for a moment, aftershocks must have occurred in various places, and the temperature of the seawater must have dropped. It must be because the World God had become active. The appearance of a boy who looked like he would break was just an avatar of the World God, and his main body was the whole world. The moment the avatar, which had been in a long sleep, moved, the main body must have also stirred.
“Yes.”
Abel answered without hesitation.
The World God ‘Epezeria’ was known as a dead god.
It was true. The World God was dead. He had become the world because he had died as a god. The god was dead, but the world was not dead. And so, the World God was moving.
“As you say, Your Holiness.”
Johanna let out a laugh.
“It will take some time.”
It wasn't difficult to distinguish between truth and lies. Abel Argento must have been a hero once. He must have faced countless Demon Kings through his reincarnations. According to Abel, the Demon King was a disaster that occurred inevitably, and no matter how much the cause was removed, its awakening could not be stopped.
A vagrant could become the Demon King, a rabbit wandering in the fields could become the Demon King, or a stone rolling on the side of the road could become the Demon King.
“Everything that makes up the world has the potential to transform into the Demon King. The Demon King will appear in some form or another.”
Abel said with a cloudy expression.
“But there is time. My disciple will not be defeated.”
Johanna shrugged her shoulders.
“Depending on the situation, I must be defeated instead.”
I have gone through reincarnations with that resolve.
Abel muttered so.
In the first place, his heart was difficult to fathom.
Johanna had reigned as Pope for a long time, and she had come to find the countless mysteries of the world to be boring. Then she had encountered Abel. Through Abel, she had learned of the existence of countless worlds, and had learned about ‘The Mother God's Right Hand’ and ‘The Mother God's Left Hand’, and the Hero and the Demon King. It was a truth she had learned in the past, not even 20 years ago.
For now, just digesting it was overwhelming.
It was too sudden to even affirm Abel's inner thoughts.
“I am no longer a hero.”
Johanna waved her arm.
The Lunar Eclipse Eye began to rotate slowly.
When Johanna gestured while looking down on the shrunken world, a certain point on the Lunar Eclipse Eye was magnified.
The collapsed Dawn Leaf Theater.
The view of the theater, which had been cut by Abel's Aura Blade, was displayed. It was neatly severed, as if cut with a giant sword.
“Your Holiness is right.”
Next, the Upanishads Museum of the Sharma family.
The ceiling of the museum, which had collapsed when Abel fell, was displayed. It seemed to be in the middle of repairs.
“……Yes. For some reason, I always fall there.”
Haa.
Johanna let out a sigh.
She asked in her original tone because it was so absurd.
Johanna was right.
Abel had acted too publicly. And so, the subjects were paying attention to Abel. He had destroyed the warships that had adorned the skies of the capital, he had also destroyed the Dawn Leaf Theater, and he had even destroyed the Upanishads Museum. There would be no one in the capital who did not know of such an Abel.
“No. It was just because time was short.”
“I have not forgotten.”
Above all, she said.
Johanna whispered, moving the Lunar Eclipse Eye.
“……I will not deny it.”
Although he was just hardening his expression silently, Abel must be feeling self-reproach. It wasn't because he had abandoned his duties as a Sword Saint. It must be because he was sad about losing a disciple. That was what Johanna guessed.
Abel Argento must have been a gentle man. That was what Johanna thought. The past of a hero who had lived for over a thousand years could only be understood by the Pope who had reigned for about a thousand years.
Johanna pointed to a certain point on the Lunar Eclipse Eye.
And so, it was displayed. The scenery of a remote fishing village.
I'll be the bad guy for you now.
I'll give you a punishment. On your behalf.
Johanna whispered so.
“It's Portsmouth.”
“I have memorized all the place names in the empire.”
Portsmouth was a small port town.
It was once a prosperous fishing village, but it had declined at some point.
The town's population was only about 400. Economic activities through fishing were being carried out, but the results were not good. It was because monsters had formed a group in the sea decades ago, and because of that, the ecosystem had been destroyed.
“If this continues, the town will disappear.”
Abel said, observing the view of Portsmouth.
Most of the town's buildings were abandoned houses, and there were many signs of monster attacks.
“For an attack on a fishing village, the monsters' momentum is strong. Soon, the residents will be massacred.”
Abel's gaze narrowed.
Monsters usually do not have a self. They move according to their killing instinct, not by thinking for themselves. Monsters with a self were rare and at the same time, had great power.
And so, they were named intelligent species.
They were distinguished from other monsters.
“What do you mean by that?”
It's a good course of study.
It's public and at the same time private.
Johanna muttered so.
As the Sword Saint of the Margin, Abel, and as Professor Argento of CIAR,
you will have to subjugate the intelligent species, and you will have to protect and teach the children at the same time.
Can you do it well? You must know well that the positions of Sword Saint and professor are difficult to reconcile.
Isn't that right, Abel?
While struggling between the two responsibilities that make you up,
after being in pain and in pain,
A moment of silence.
The intelligent species was a dangerous opponent.
It was no problem for Abel to face it alone, but the story changed if he took the children with him. But because Abel had become a professor, he no longer had the time to move alone, and as a Sword Saint, he was worried not only about others going to Portsmouth, but also about the lives of the people living in Portsmouth. The difficult-to-reconcile responsibilities were chaotically intertwined and were pressing down on Abel.
“I will accept it.”
But he didn't mind.
Abel firmly trusted his students.
Monika, Demian, Ernst, and Roberta were all children with special talents.
Fleur was no different. They were all children who held the power to save some part of this world.
“My disciples will not falter.”
Abel bowed his head lightly.
“I want to support such disciples.”
It was time to return to CIAR.
The moment he was about to turn his back on Johanna and take a step,
<──Oh, and get married too!>
Johanna's cheerful shout echoed.
Abel's movement stopped. He froze, standing on the tips of his toes.
A month should be enough, right?
This is also my punishment.
It must be really, really painful. Take it gladly.
To Johanna's whisper, Abel,
“……This is a bit much.”
muttered with his eyes wide open.